Newcomer
by Nequissimus-Breed
Summary: Harry is in his 5th year, and there’s a new girl in school. But something about her is extremely strange… Will Harry & friends cope?
1. Arrival

Title: Newcomer  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Author: This is my first H.P. Fanfic, so plz be nice. R&R.  
  
Disclaimer: Arwen is mine, everything else is owned by J. K. Rowling. Though if there's something else u recognise, then plz say  
  
Summary: Harry is in his 5th year, and there's a new girl in school. But something about her is extremely strange. Will Harry & friends cope?  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 1: Arrival  
  
Arwen looked nervously around the station. She could feel the eyes of curious 'muggles', as she was told to call them eyeing her with wonder. She could hear their thoughts. 'What's with all the baggage? Travelling far bird-girl?' 'Oh my God! An owl, that's so cute. I didn't know you could get owls as pets.' Sighing, Arwen blocked their thoughts from her mind. They were making her uneasy. One of her gifts was to read people's minds, but always she wished she could throw away her gift. It was nuisance.  
  
Looking at her 'train ticket'? She looked for the sign saying 9 ¾. '8... 9... 10? Where is it? Maybe that letter was a joke? Unless owls could do practical jokes.' She had had to ask the owl what the letter was about, for she couldn't read the words.  
  
Arwen was a loner, and had no other company but the animals around her. 'The owl was obviously special. For he could understand the letter, and knew my remarks I said in my own language.' She smiled to herself, 'he was good company'. He had taught her to read by using his mind. 'No matter what language you speak, the mind is spoken in the same tongue.' And he opened his mind to her, to gain the knowledge.  
  
'Well, maybe reading minds wasn't such a nuisance after all.' Stopping now, with a frown planted obviously on her face, she once again freed her mind to find someone, who might know of the platform she was to take. With no such luck, she sat down on her trolley. Absently stroking the owl beside her, she wondered on what to do.  
  
She had come all this way, to be stuck in some crowded place, where she was already receiving some strange looks already. Looking at the round device the owl called a 'clock', she could see the train would leave in '... ten minutes! Oh God!' Suddenly she felt as if she would collapse and cry. She should never of come here...  
  
"Oh Ron, do hurry up, the train's about to leave!" A woman with what looked to be with about six children was hurrying towards where she sat. All of them with luggage similar to hers, and... Oh thank the gods and goddesses ever in existents, owls!  
  
A high pitched squawking sound, sounded from Ron's cage as he franticly tried to cover the cage in what looked to be a robe. The robe slipped off, revealing a minute owl, fluttering happily around the cage.  
  
"Pig, shut up! People are watching!" 'Pig? Doesn't look anything like a pig.' Arwen stared in amazement as the owl called Pig was once again covered by the redheaded boy's robe.  
  
Noticing that the two who were not apart of the redheaded family were making their goodbyes, Arwen quickly stood up and pushed her trolley in their direction.  
  
"Excuse me?" The black haired boy stopped saying his goodbyes and turned round. Arwen instantly felt small as their eyes pierced her with shocked but friendly gazes.  
  
"Uh... Would you be going to Hogwarts?" She noticed Ron's ears were gradually growing pink. Arwen smiled inwardly, 'so I guess the owl was right. For a human, I was quite pretty'. The woman smiled warmly,  
  
"Yes dear, are you new to Hogwarts?" Arwen smiled at her. 'I've only just met this woman, but she's really nice. I like her already.'  
  
"Yeah, I was wondering if you could show me to the platform?" Suddenly she felt nervous. 'What if you needed magic to enter? It would certainly explain why I couldn't find the platform. Oh damn...' As if reading her thoughts, the woman smiled and put her hand on Arwen's shoulder.  
  
"Don't worry. All you need to do is walk directly between the 9th and 10th platform, through that barrier", she pointed, "Why don't Fred and George show her the way..." Realizing this was in fact a silent command, the twins called Fred and George pushed their trolleys forward and walked towards the barrier, picking up speed, they ran at the barrier. Bracing for the impact, Arwen waited for the sound of crashing metal on stone, but it never came. For the twins had vanished into the barrier.  
  
Arwen stared in open surprise. The bushy haired girl grinned and took her arm,  
  
"Come on, I'll show you." Arwen followed her towards the barrier, and positioned her trolley in front of the barrier Fred and George had disappeared into.  
  
"Just walk right through..." Taking a deep breath, Arwen pushed her trolley forward and closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes, Arwen found she was now staring at a new platform, and there was a train, which looked to be quite old, 'compared to the others', with the words 'Hogwarts Express' printed on the front.  
  
Remembering that others will soon be coming through the barrier, she quickly stepped aside as the bushy haired girl came through the barrier, soon followed by the others and the woman.  
  
"Have fun! And you my dear, enjoy your stay at Hogwarts", Arwen smiled a thank you, and followed the others as they entered the train. ****  
  
As the twins and the younger girl had moved somewhere else, Arwen followed Ron, and the two others to an empty compartment. Arwen looked around nervously. She only knew about the train from what the owl had told her.  
  
It was vibrating, with a strange humming sound, which Arwen was curious of. She hoped it wouldn't be as noticeable when they were more into the journey. Sitting at the window seat, Arwen watched as the station faded from view, and soon, countryside, and woods followed. Ron and the other boy put her luggage on the rack provided. As they sat down opposite her, with the girl beside her, she nodded her thanks.  
  
Arwen eyed them nervously. Ron was still pink round the ears, and when she looked at him, he turned an even deeper red. The girl noticed this and frowned. She's my first friend; I am NOT loosing her to some petty jealously. Arwen stared at her face and they locked eyes. Tilting her head towards Ron, she rolled her eyes in a questioning expression as if to say 'how obvious is that?'. The girl smiled and looked away. 'Ha! I RULE at diplomacy!'  
  
The dark haired boy held out his hand to Arwen,  
  
"Harry Potter", Arwen took it, 'wait, what's my last name?' After a moment's hesitation, Arwen smiled,  
  
"Arwen Battlemaiden" 'I suppose my spirit name will have to do'. Ron also held out his hand,  
  
"Ronald Weasley. Though, you can call me Ron" Ron blushed deeply. Grinning at Ron, the girl also held out her hand,  
  
"Hermione Granger" Arwen shook hers also,  
  
"So where are you transferred from?" Arwen turned back to Harry, 'transferred?'  
  
"Oh, err, I'm not a transfer," they looked surprised at this, "I guess it's cause I already knew magic, so I didn't start with you... Though I've never used a wand before." Hermione looked extremely interested,  
  
"You do magic without a wand? What do you use then?" Maybe I shouldn't have told them that,  
  
"Well. Me. I was born with magic..." Arwen looked at their stunned faces. 'Now they'll think I'm a freak! Damn it!' Harry looked worried and excited at same time,  
  
"I didn't know it was possible. Though, you're right, that must be why you didn't go to Hogwarts in the first year. I mean, that's pretty... Powerful" Ron suddenly grinned,  
  
"Don't worry Arwen, we won't tell anyone, I mean, a power like that... That is just so cool! Can you show us something?" Although they didn't say anything, Arwen could tell Harry and Hermione were as eager as Ron was. Arwen grinned,  
  
"Sure, but it's nothing amazing, really. OK, what do you want me to...?"  
  
Before she could say another word, the doors to the compartment were flung open, and three boys came marching into the room. Two of them were very broad, and well, big. Almost like miniature trolls. They grinned evilly at the group no longer sitting in the compartment, all with wands held ready for use. Arwen also was standing. Who ever they were, they were not friends, and instinct told her to be extremely cautious around them. But mostly of the boy the middle. Opening her eyes to a way no other human being could see, Arwen almost gasp aloud at what she saw there.  
  
His soul was almost like a void; only a small amount, about the size of his head, (saying the soul made up the entire body) of light could be seen inside his heart. Arwen almost threw up at the amount of hatred in this boy. He was corrupted, and too late to repair.  
  
Arwen quickly shut her 'eyes' before anyone noticed the occurrence. The boy's hair was a light blond; almost white, with sharp eyes, colder then ice. His eyes held a small amount of surprise at the sight of Arwen, and then set into another evil grin, turning back to the others his smile vanished,  
  
"Don't go wasting your breath Potter, I only came to greet the newcomer" Taking a careless step forward into enemy territory, he extended his hand, "I'm surprised such a..." He made an obvious show of looking up and down Arwen's body, "girl like you would want to be in the company of such wasted time and space." He grinned coldly at Hermione, "Even more surprised you'd want to waste time on one of such tainted blood".  
  
Hermione started growing red with anger, and Ron looked like he would lunge at the boy, wand or not. Arwen stepped in front of Ron, before he could do anything dramatic, and leaned in close to the boy, so they were almost touching. She put her face near the crook in his neck, and breathed in, nostrils flaring, up to his face, and smiled coldly,  
  
"I believe you are the one who is tainted," the boy's face went a light pink,  
  
"You have made a big mistake" and turning on them, he swept once again out of the room, his 'body guards' following behind. She let out a sigh, and sat back down,  
  
"Who was that?" Harry landed heavily in his seat,  
  
"That is Draco Malfoy" Harry spat out the words, "he's in Slytherin house. You want to stay away from the Slytherins, they're nothing but trouble." Noticing how sour Harry seemed to be getting, Arwen attempted to change the subject, and asked about the different houses.  
  
They had been chatting endless during the entire trip. Arwen had learned a lot of things. That the fact that non-wand use was quite unheard of, so, according to Ron, she was very special. And, there was a giant magical community all around the world, about the teachers and people at school (Professor Snape was not to be crossed with). And about the strange food they had here (helped by the trolley full of sweets which stopped by the compartment).  
  
And in return, Arwen had told them of her life in a non-human society in the mountains, and how she had had to talk to the owl to learn to read (followed by Arwen spending some time talking to Pig, to the fascination and nagging of Ron).  
  
"Arwen, can I see you use your magic. I mean, now we know about it, you can show us, right?" Arwen smiled knowingly. All through the time they'd talked, Ron had constantly thought about her magic. 'I hope she shows us something. I wonder if she needs to say something weird, then something happens, or maybe she just clicks her fingers, and whatever it is just goes 'pop!'' She was definitely was going to surprise him. Not that she knew it was what he wanted. 'I think I'll wait a bit longer until I tell them about 'reading minds'.'  
  
"Sure what do you want me to do?" Harry placed an empty Chocolate Frog wrapper on the table,  
  
"Can you make that move?" 'Wow, difficult'  
  
"Sure" Arwen raised her arms as if to cast an extremely dramatic spell, froze, then shrugged and pointed at the wrapper, which started spinning in the air, and exploded with a loud crack in a fountain of colour petals that fell around them, and dissolved. Arwen laughed,  
  
"What did you expect, Thunder and lightening?" Ron, who had been in a daze after watching the display, instantly recoiled in his seat, staring at Arwen's face. Arwen stopped laughing as she noticed Harry was turning quite pale,  
  
"What.?" Ron pointed at her face, and started standing up, reaching for his wand,  
  
"Your eyes! They're glowing!"  
  
"What?!" 'Oh yeah, damn I forgot.'  
  
"Blue! Florescent blue! Eyes do not. Glow. Blue!" Arwen reached over and grabbed Ron's sleeve,  
  
"It's ok! It's just the magic! When I use magic, it is reflected in my eyes! It's nothing!" Ron relaxed reluctantly, and sat back down. Instantly, he realized how he reacted, and turned bright red in embarrassment.  
  
"Sorry..."  
  
"It's ok, I should have told you. Though, may I just say that if my eyes glow 'red', then you should back up" Arwen had tried to say it lightly, but Ron took it as a serious warning,  
  
"Why red?" Arwen bit her lip, and tried to think of the best way to put it,  
  
"Well... If I use the magic out of anger, or revenge, or 'evil' maybe, the bad area of my soul is used to cast the spell, so... the red would be my 'evil soul'. And if it is out of good, then you will see my 'good soul', which is blue. Does that make sense?" 'Maybe 'evil' was the wrong word'.  
  
"So your evil?" Hermione instantly turned wide-eyed at the statement, 'oh God, I didn't say that did I? Oh please don't take that the wrong way...' Arwen smiled at the thought,  
  
"No, I'm not 'evil', I just use the bad side to my soul. My soul is perfectly balanced between good and evil, so I may use both sides if I want to, without one or the other taking over." 'Oh, well that's ok then' Hermione relaxed her clenched hands, which were itching to pull out her wand, and breathed in deeply,  
  
"What colour would it be if you used both sides?"  
  
"Well, then they wouldn't glow, cause each cancels out the other". Ron looked like he was going to speak, but Arwen put up her hand, "Can we leave the topic? It's not on my list of favourite subjects..." Ron looked quite taken back,  
  
"Well, yeah sure. Sorry..."  
  
**We will be reaching Hogwarts Station in five minutes. That's five minutes, please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to you**  
  
"Damn, better get changed..." Everyone made a move to his or her baggage, but Arwen pulled them back.  
  
"You said you wanted to see some magic? Here, what about this..." Arwen lifted her left hand in mid-air, and flicked her hand. Instantly, in a great 'poof!' They were wearing their robes, their other clothes neatly folded on the table. Ron gasped in amazement, and grinned at Arwen,  
  
"That was bloody brilliant!" Arwen couldn't help smile as the train reached the station. As they made their way out, Harry turned to Arwen,  
  
"You need to go with Hagrid, he's taking all the 1st years, and the new students to Hogwarts. Just tell him who you are, and he'll tell you what to do", Arwen nodded nervously as Harry showed her where to go, and walked off to join Ron and Hermione. After waving goodbye, she walked to giant man Harry had told her to follow.  
  
*****  
  
T.B.C. What do you think for the first chapter? Plz R&R. If u have any suggestions, then plz say 


	2. Wolves & Potions

Title: Newcomer  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Author: This is my first H.P. Fanfic, so plz be nice. R&R.  
  
Disclaimer: Arwen is mine, everything else is owned by J. K. Rowling. Though if there's something else u recognise, then plz say  
  
Summary: Harry is in his 5th year, and there's a new girl in school. But something about her is extremely strange. Will Harry & friends cope?  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 2: Wolves and Potions:  
  
Arwen looked around the entrance in wonder. They had just ridden across the lake in small magic powered boats, and, much to the amusement of Hagrid, who she had shared a larger boat with, had had an interesting talk with the giant squid, to tell Hagrid that he needed to 'find a way to cut down the population of Grindylow, for they are eating all the food', whatever that means.  
  
They had just left the boats and were waiting for Hagrid to come back, to take them to the Sorting of Houses. Arwen was getting a few strange looks from the 1st years, 'isn't she abit old to start now? I thought you were specially chosen, so you had to start in first year. How strange.' Sighing, Arwen closed off their minds as the number of remarks threatened to consume her.  
  
Finally, the giant wooden doors opened, and there stood a tall, strict looking woman,  
  
"If you could just follow me please" She hurried across a giant hall, into a chamber to the right. She could hear the voices of the rest of the school from the two closed doors near the chamber. Swallowing nervously, Arwen entered with the 1st years, to be told what to do...  
  
*****  
  
Harry looked towards where the 1st years, and Arwen were to appear. They had told most of Griffindor about Arwen, but they had sworn not to tell anyone about her 'special magic' intil she was ready to say herself. So now all those in Griffindor (which would probably be everyone by now) that know of her, were waiting eagerly for when she must be sorted.  
  
At last, the door opened, and Professor McGonagall, leading the newcomers, came out and lined up in front of the school, Arwen standing next to McGonagall.  
  
*****  
  
"Now, Arwen there is no known surname for you, so I need one suitable to tell Professor Dumbledore for the announcement" Arwen looked up at Professor McGonagall,  
  
"Battlemaiden will do", she tried to keep her voice as quiet as possible. The Professor looked quite taken back by this name, but then shrugged slightly and whispered the name to the headmaster, whose name was Dumbledore.  
  
Professor Dumbledore stood up, and the room fell into silence.  
  
"Welcome students, to another year at Hogwarts. Before the sorting of the 1st years, may I just say, that we have a new student in our amidst, who is to join the 5th year." Arwen could feel the eyes of the school locked on to her; to afraid for even glimpses at what they were thinking, she concentrated on Dumbledore. "Miss Arwen Battlemaiden, will you please step up to the stool to be sorted."  
  
He smiled warmly to her, and Arwen walked nervously to where the hat sat in front of the 1st years. Sitting down, she took the hat in her hands and pulled it over her head...  
  
'Well, well, this is a complicated mind.' A small voice could be heard inside her head, 'Yes, yes, a lot of courage I see, and power, certainly power. Your mind is extremely equal in good and evil, which house should I put you in to change that balance, hmm?' 'Don't put me in Slytherin, you know the consequences if I join the wrong side, it would lead to a disaster beyond repair.' 'Not Slytherin ay? Well then, better be... GRIFFINDOR!'  
  
Grinning, Arwen took the hat off her head, and placed it back on the stool,  
  
"Thank you", Arwen whispered, and she went to sit next to Hermione on the Griffindor table as they cheered around her.  
  
*****  
  
After the sorting and the feast was finished, Arwen, led by Hermione, Ron & Harry, was taken to the Griffindor common room. After saying goodbye to Harry and Ron, and many others, which were her classmates, she followed Hermione to the dorms.  
  
"Professor McGonagall said to go to the dormitory second on the left..."  
  
"Brilliant! That's mine! Come on, when we sort out your stuff, we can go through your time table..." Entering the room, Arwen noticed that her clothes had already been laid out on one of the four-poster beds. Dragging her suitcase onto the bed, which had been stored in front of it, she began to unpack most of her belongings.  
  
"Do you need my help?" Hermione watched as stuff began floating out of the suitcase, Arwen grinned and turned her back on the self-unpacking suitcase,  
  
"Na, it's ok. It should do that by itself now", Arwen took out a piece of paper from her suitcase, "come on, I want to see and *understand* my timetable." Taking her hand, Arwen led, or dragged Hermione out of the dormitory, as she tried to see the strange objects floating around the wardrobe and bedside table, 'almost as if the stuff is deciding where to go... Was that a sword?'  
  
Before Hermione's thoughts could be spoken aloud, Arwen led Hermione back to the common room, where a few were now relaxing back into what was probably by habit, of playing chess, and reading books, and finishing homework. Sitting in two chairs near the fire, Arwen took out her timetable, as did Hermione.  
  
"Ok, my first lesson is double potions. What do you do in that?" Hermione reached over, and took Arwen's timetable,  
  
"That's with Professor Snape, its well, making potions", she finished lamely, "oh, we're sharing with the Slytherins", from the look on Hermione's face, Arwen could tell that was a bad thing,  
  
"That would be the Evil Professor right?" Hermione smiled, and after a quick run through, gave back the timetable,  
  
"He's not *evil*, he just... acts evil", sharing an amused grin, Hermione shrugged and looked at her own timetable,  
  
"Then I've got History Of Magic... I've got Care Of Magical Creatures for third lesson. That sounds good, what's that like?"  
  
"That's with Hagrid. Unless Hagrid has a another patch of Blast-ended Skewts, you'll love it", at Arwen's blank look, Hermione described the awful creatures that they had to 'care for' last year. Arwen grinned,  
  
"They sound pretty cool", obviously that wasn't the answer Hermione hoped for, and went on to tell her about the Hippogriff accident in her third year, after finishing the story, Arwen laughed openly,  
  
"Serves the bugger right! Nice to see he knows he's not as invincible as he thought he was..."As the inhabitants of the room started to thin out, Arwen and Hermione went back to their dormitory (the other beds now filled with sleeping strangers), and finally, had their first sleep, back at Hogwarts.  
  
*****  
  
Arwen and Hermione walked over to where Harry and Ron were happily eating breakfast in the main hall. Noticing Hermione's sleepy appearance, while Arwen had one, more of guilt, Harry instantly eyed the two as they wearily sat down opposite them, concentrating on anything that wasn't the girl next to them,  
  
"What's up?" pretending not to notice, Arwen selected out a quite large breakfast from around the table, and started eating. Hermione sighed has she spooned out a helping of baked beans,  
  
"Well, Arwen, being used to waking by the sun," Arwen suddenly was more dramatically interested her food, "woke up at five, and believing we also should be awake at this time, put a silencing spell around the dorm, and did a spell that sounded like 100 deaf banshees trying to sing the national anthem!"  
  
"I'm sorry! I don't know what you guys do around here! I thought you should have woken to! I'm sorry! It's instinct", Hermione scoffed loudly,  
  
"Instinct? That was instinct? Then obviously you were raised by insane wolves!" But that obviously that hit a mark, for Arwen made a sound that was similar to a growl, and with a flash of red, took off towards the Griffindor common room. Harry leaned over to Hermione's stunned face, and said with only a hint of humour,  
  
"You know Hermione, from what we know of her past, you were probably right..." Ron frowned at Hermione,  
  
"That was rough Herm, real rough," Hermione groaned loudly, and put her hands over her cringing face,  
  
"Oh... She hasn't even started her first day, and already she hates me" Ron patted her head sympathetically,  
  
"Don't worry Hermione, she'll get over it. All you need to do is apologize..." Ron shared a quick glance with Harry. No matter what the cause, Hermione was as stubborn as anything when it came to apologizing, definitely if she thought she was in the right. There was no *way* she was going to apologize.  
  
*****  
  
Harry glanced nervously at Arwen and Hermione. They were going to Potions, and of course they needed to show Arwen the way. They hadn't said a word to each other ever since breakfast, and Harry was finding it extremely annoying, and so was Ron,  
  
"Stop it would you!" Ron suddenly shouted, making everyone stare, Arwen, who already knew what was on his mind, asked innocently,  
  
"What?" they had stopped, while Ron paced in front of them,  
  
"This, this silence! Look, please can you two just sort this thing out, because I am getting tired of watching you two look at each other, as if you'd said you were really Malfoy's mother!" He grabbed both of them and pulled them together,  
  
"Look, if you aren't going to say it then I will..." Ron turned to Hermione, "Hermione, Arwen is sorry for waking you up so early. I'm sure it wasn't a pleasant experience, but you've got to admit, I'm sure you were worried about getting up in the first place," he turned to Arwen, "Arwen, Hermione is sorry for saying that you were raised by insane wolves. We don't actually know if you were raised by wolves, but she didn't mean it as an insult, ok?" both girls nodded, "now, *say sorry*",  
  
"Sorry,"  
  
"Sorry,"  
  
"Now, lets go to Potions before Snape singes our arses, 'right? Ok then," and with a bemused smile from Harry and Ron, while the girls had ones more of embarrassment, they set off in a hurry to the dungeons.  
  
*****  
  
The four Griffindors walked through the door, all with red faces, and breathing heavily from running. The greasy haired teacher smiled coldly and drifted over to them as they tried to catch their breath,  
  
"Ten points from Griffindor, and detention to all of you. This is certainly a disgraceful start to the year. You may stay after the lesson, so I may see what to do with you. Now sit down." Harry, Ron and Hermione went glumly to their seats, but Arwen stayed,  
  
"Excuse sir, where should I sit?" Arwen couldn't help the iciness slip into her words. Already she had a detention, and she had even started her first lesson yet! This man was so... Evil. Arwen smiled inwardly. The teacher gazed at her for awhile, then made his way the giant desk at the front of the room,  
  
"You must be our new student," he looked at a note on the desk, "Arwen Battlemaiden is it?" Arwen nodded, "I am Professor Snape, I am the Potions Master at this school, and so, your teacher for Potions. You may sit next to Neville, he will... Guide you, if you need any help," Arwen saw many Slytherins sniggering at some silent joke, looking to the Griffindors, many of them showed quick glances of annoyance towards Professor Snape and apologetic looks towards her. Neville just looked scared.  
  
Snape smiled lazily as Arwen made her way to sit next to Neville. Only a table away was Draco and one of his 'bodyguards', that Harry had called 'Crabbe'. He sneered coldly at Arwen and mouthed the words, 'you'll pay'. In return, Arwen gave him a one-fingered salute.  
  
Snape opened a heavy book, and swept his eyes over the class before speaking,  
  
"As Arwen is new to this type of class, we will start with something simple. If you could please open your copies of 'Potions Of Preference' to page 327, 'Dreamless Sleep'. If your potion is correct, then it should fizz with a shade of green." Looking towards Neville, he starting speaking, "and please read the book carefully, for the side effects are unknown, and maybe irreversible."  
  
Once again, sniggers from the Slytherin area floated through the air. Arwen turned towards Neville to see he was red with anger and embarrassment, 'he always turns on me, I hate it. I can't help being wrong all the time, with him staring at me, and the Slytherins, it makes me nervous'.  
  
Arwen frowned, 'so he put me with the clumsy one on purpose, to make me fail at my first attempt? Well, I'll just have to prove him wrong...'  
  
Taking out the equipment needed, she started grinding up the 'Dung beetle shells? Gross, do we have to eat these?' Making sure no one was looking, she used her magic to start the fire of her cauldron, and poured in the right amount of 'Unicorn Milk, cool', and looked back at the book.  
  
'According to this, I must wait for it to boil to an orange colour, then add the shells, and the herb'. Taking out the thick leaf, she started cutting the leaf into neatly shaped squares. Looking over at Neville, she noticed he was about to add the shells, before it boiled. Quickly tapping his shoulder, she waved at the book, and pointed at where he had gone wrong.  
  
Sighing in relief, he smiled and nodded in thanks, and too, started chopping his leaf into more confident squares. 'Thank God she told me. I'd of messed up the whole potion', smiling to herself for helping Neville, she added the ingredients to the now, orange liquid, and watched as it turned from orange, to a pale red.  
  
'Now, add a pinch of powdered dragon hide. Huh, That is so cruel', doing as it asked, she added the powerful powder, and with a poof of smoke that smelled of rotten fish, it turned to deep blue. 'Nearly finished', looking back at the book, she read the last of the text,  
  
**...The potion should then turn a deep bluish colour. Then add the Vergiften Rose Thorn to the potion. Remember. You MUST cut off the parts with the reddish tint. It is highly magical, and will end in vast consequences, if added to the potion...**  
  
Doing as it told, Arwen added the thorn, as others around the class were doing so. With a loud fizz, it turned green. Smiling, Harry and Ron gave a thumbs-up under the table, and many Griffindors mouthed words of congratulations from across the classroom. Snape looked more dangerous then ever, now that his plan of sabotage had failed, as did the Slytherins. He started his way over to Arwen to check the potion was 'absolutely' correct.  
  
Neville, who was now on the stage of adding his thorn, smiled confidently, and suddenly felt delight, 'if Arwen can do it, then so can I! I can't believe I've managed to finish this potion!' In his cheerful state at finishing the potion, he didn't read what Arwen had just looked over. As he dropped the thorn in the cauldron, Arwen caught a glimpse of red on the falling thorn,  
  
"No, Neville!" There was a great bang! And the contents of the cauldron exploded over Neville, Arwen, Professor Snape, Draco, and Crabbe.  
  
"Holy shit!" Draco and Crabbe jumped out of their seats, and started yelling, while trying to shake the potion off them. Arwen also stood up, and tried to take off her potion soaked robe, before it soaked through. Suddenly, she went ridged, and gasped in pain. All over her body, where the potion had touched, her skin was turning pale and was starting to crack, blood seeping through the wounds.  
  
Snape had managed to use some kind of magic to get most of the potion from soaking into himself, and his clothes, and was fixing the damage of what hadn't been stopped, in a great hurry. Draco and Crabbe were screaming in pain, as their friends started to help getting the potion from growing worse.  
  
Nearly frozen in pain, Arwen looked over to Neville, who was crying silently, as blood was starting to show on his arms and face. 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...' Arwen reached over to Neville, gasping in pain as the movement stretched the broken and bloody skin, opening it more. Biting down on her lip, so not to scream, she put her hand on Neville's shoulder,  
  
"Can't live without a bit of pain, Neville", Neville gasped in shock, whether from the contact, or the fact that Arwen's eyes were glowing blue, as a hazy pale glow swirled from Arwen's hand, and slowing enveloped around Neville. The whole class (except Draco and Crabbe, who were thrashing and wailing on the floor) stared in amazement, as Neville's damaged skin started to heal, and finally vanished back to its normal but pale self.  
  
When the healing finished, the ghostly light around Neville faded, and Arwen sat down wearily all pain forgotten, as exhaustion took over, and finally, she fell into unconsciousness.  
  
*****  
  
T.B.C. Plz R&R! 


	3. Talking Owls & A Really Strange Dream

Title: Newcomer  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Author: This is my first H.P. Fanfic, so plz be nice. R&R.  
  
Disclaimer: Arwen is mine, everything else is owned by J. K. Rowling. Though if there's something else u recognise, then plz say  
  
Summary: Harry is in his 5th year, and there's a new girl in school. But something about her is extremely strange... Will Harry & friends cope?  
  
*****  
  
Chapter 3: Talking Owls & A Really Strange Dream:  
  
  
  
Arwen was dreaming. She was back at the mountains, her forest home the same as always. Her tree house seemed untouched, the pool of water not dirty. The spell for security not tampered with, or showed any history of intruder.  
  
As she walked toward the centre of the clearing, a great, grey owl swooped over and dropped a letter in front of her, then landed on a branch, to watch and wait for Arwen, to open the letter.  
  
Filled with curiosity, at the letter, and the giant bird, she opened the letter...  
  
It was a recipe for 'dreamless sleep'. How strange. Turning to the bird, she asked him in a language, too ancient for human beings to understand,  
  
"Who sent this letter to me? Why was this letter sent to me?" Arwen frowned, "why can I read it." Arwen walked past the owl and knelt beside the pool and washed her face, muttering under her breath, "I'm dreaming," the owl flew in front of her, and settled on a giant stone in the middle of the pool,  
  
"You are dreaming. I am a messenger from the Elders, about your new situation. What you did was extremely stupid, and you were nearly lost." Arwen looked up at the owl in confusion.  
  
"What are you talking about? What did I do?" Sighing in a very un-owly way, he shuffled his feet and fluffed his feathers in annoyance, before speaking again,  
  
"Look at the recipe, try to remember what happened..." sighing, Arwen once again looked through the paper, trying to find what these words meant,  
  
"Unicorn Milk, Dragon's Hide? Who would go to such dangerous measures to get this stuff?" Arwen looked at the owl, but he remained silent, "Oookay... Uh...Wait! Vergiften Rose, the Ver-gif-ten Rose... I know that! Wait... ah, it'll come..."  
  
'Ver-gif-ten Rose, Ver-gif-ten Rose, Vergiften...' Arwen looked up at the bird, which was waiting patiently for Arwen to figure out what had happened only half an hour ago, then it came in a giant rush,  
  
Hogwarts... Harry, Ron, Hermione, Pig, the giant squid, Hagrid. Crabbe, Draco, Professor Snape, Neville, the potion, the thorn. The Vergiften Rose Thorn, **cut off the parts with the reddish tint** Arwen groaned, and the owl made an expression, that looked to be with one eyebrow raised (if owls had eyebrows),  
  
"Remember anything?" Arwen looked at the owl with her 'Duh-what-do-you- think?' look, and collapsed on the grassy floor,  
  
"How bad was I?" The owl gave a frown in its owl-like way, and looked down its beak like a librarian might do at someone screaming in a library.  
  
"The magic you used drained you of your strength, that you were nearly taken over by your bad side of spirit! You didn't realize it, but the 'accident' was actually an attempt to catch you off guard, so you'd be taken over, and be made a servant of the dark side. If it weren't for the fact Neville's memory held that of what happened to his parents by the servants of evil, it would have been most likely, you wouldn't be here now"  
  
Arwen tilted her head, and searched the owls face,  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"Neville's parents are in a wizard's hospital, they are insane." Arwen gasped at the news, 'that must have been terrible',  
  
"Why did that help? I'd of thought the hunger of revenge would have helped beat me"  
  
"No, Neville doesn't feel revenge. He feels 'fear'. The picture it left in his mind, when his parents were struck, was that he never wanted that to happen to anyone, and that evil was not the right path. He is of pure good". Arwen swung her legs round so she was sitting cross-legged,  
  
"How long till I wake?"  
  
"In about quarter of an hour. We had to work quite hard just to give you half your strength back," Arwen straightened her back in surprise and looked at the bird with a slight smile,  
  
"You guy's have been watching over me?"  
  
"Of course. Your as important as Harry Potter in this fight of Good & Evil," Arwen frowned,  
  
"Why is he important?" The owl sighed, and ruffled his feathers,  
  
"Ok, as this may help in your quest to come, I'll tell you from the beginning..."  
  
*****  
  
Professor Snape walked over to where Madam Pomfrey was checking on her patients.  
  
Arwen, Draco and Vincent [Crabbe] were still unconscious, whether from the pain or exhaustion she wasn't sure. Neville, having been healed by Arwen, had been checked anyway, but showed no unhealthy signs, except for a small amount of blood loss.  
  
Though he had continued to stay. Even from the glares of Professor Snape, and cleaning of bloody wounds, which would of made any uneasy, especially those that were squeamish. Pomfrey felt pity for the boy.  
  
Amazingly, Arwen had healed quite dramatically of course, after the incident, this wasn't surprising, though was still severe. Professor Snape had been no help at all in trying to heal his wounds. He had had to let his class have a free period, as there was no one to teach them. Many had spent most their time in the Hospital Wing, before being shooed out by Madam Pomfrey.  
  
He was in a sour mood, and not only did he fail at making 'Potter's little friend' unsuccessful in her first assignment, he was also was covered in painful wounds, which stung at the slightest movement. 'Better if I had passed out'. The ointment Madam Pomfrey used was extremely itchy, and it was bothering him enough to *kill* that ignorant boy.  
  
He once again glowered over in Neville's direction, noticing, Neville turned pale, and started squirming around on his chair, 'I'll make his life a living nightmare in the memory of this day.'  
  
Ignoring the nurse's command, he scratched at his face. Looking over at Arwen, he was surprised to see that she was in fact mumbling something in her sleep. 'She must be dreaming, good... I think; she'll wake up soon.' That spell she did on the boy was something even *he* couldn't do. 'It was extremely impressive.'  
  
He was about to call Poppy over to check on her, when he thought he heard the word 'Harry'. Making sure no one was watching, Snape groaned as he stood up, and walked over and sat down beside Arwen, to listen to the girl's words.  
  
"That explains the scar..." Snape smiled, she must be reliving a conversation with Potter, "but why did he not die? Even with my power, I couldn't defeat a dark wizard as powerful as he, it must have been some kind of protection spell on the boy." Or not?  
  
Madam Pomfrey came back into the Hospital Wing to find Professor Snape leaning over Arwen, his ear almost touching her lips, with a curious expression on his face,  
  
"Severus!" She hissed at him, "What *are* you doing?" Professor Snape held up his hand, and motioned her to come forward,  
  
"She's talking to someone,"  
  
"What are you talking about?"  
  
"In her dream. She's talking to someone. Definitely not from this school," Madam Pomfrey walked over, opposite Snape, and pulled over a chair, and whispered,  
  
"What is she talking about?" Snape sat back a bit,  
  
"Someone is explaining to her about Po... Harry Potter, about the scar on his forehead, and Voldemort (Poppy cringed at the name). Something to do with being important, and the 'Elders'," Madam Pomfrey seemed quite interested in this news, and opened her mouth to speak, but then set it into a frown,  
  
"Professor, I'd prefer, as interesting as this might be, that you leave my patient in peace," Snape looked like he was about to speak, but she cut him off, "We will confirm what information you know to Professor Dumbledore, and maybe, we will question Arwen later, but please Professor! I'm sure you wouldn't want anyone spying on a private conversation,"  
  
Looking one more time towards Arwen, he glared at Pomfrey, before taking off back to his seat, and went over what he had heard,  
  
'She wanted to know why she was important as Harry Potter, and obviously that person wouldn't say, or was telling her now. Though there was a connection, the spell... It came right out of her hand, no wand, or incantation, and healed him completely, she certainly was *special*...' Thinking on this knowledge, Professor Snape pondered on the thought, 'maybe the connection's with Voldemort...'  
  
*****  
  
Arwen suddenly felt panic. She was talking to the owl, when everything swamped into darkness, then into an extremely bright light. 'Ah, I'm waking up,' trying to swallowing down the fear, as she found her body in great pain, and that she could hardly move, Arwen groaned as she felt head spin as she opened her eyes. Everything was blurred, and the lights were giving her a headache, 'what is this place? Why is it so white?'  
  
Someone moved over her line of vision, and peered over her,  
  
"Ah, Arwen. You're awake!" Arwen screwed up her eyes, trying to get any idea of who this woman is,  
  
"Who are you? Where am I?" Her vision was getting better; she was in a room full of small beds, covered in white sheets, matching the white walls, ceiling, and the clothes of the woman in front of her. The woman smiled reassuringly,  
  
"I am Madam Pomfrey, I am the nurse at Hogwarts School. This is the hospital wing. You were in an accident in Potions Class, as some of your friends have also..." Wincing, Arwen propped herself on her arms and stared amazed at the two still forms on the beds either side of her. Scanning the room, she noticed Neville sitting across the room.  
  
When she looked at him, he held her gaze for a few seconds, and then quickly looked away, 'she must hate me'. Arwen opened her mouth to say she didn't, but then remember she wasn't supposed to know his thoughts, she shut it quickly.  
  
She also noticed Professor Snape standing in the corner, far away from Neville as possible. There were scars on his face, dried blood had caught in his hair, but he didn't seem to care. He noticed her gaze and watched her coldly; she stared back.  
  
Wincing, Arwen sat up, and realized she was only wearing some kind of white dress. It was very thin, 'I can't go around in this?' Looking back at Snape, who was watching her with mild interested, she frowned and swung her legs over the bed, 'can't hurt if he sees abit more magic, he knows enough by now, that I'm not normal'.  
  
With one more suspicious glare towards Snape, she gathered her magic, and directed it at her clothing. It hazed, and turned into the muggle clothes she had used to come to Hogwarts.  
  
Hopping off the bed, as Neville, Madam Pomfrey and Professor Snape stared in amazement at the transformation, she looked back Madam Pomfrey,  
  
"I'll be ok. I can heal quite easily," Pomfrey frowned,  
  
"You're not going that easily. You are still in a bad shape; I need to clean up these wounds, before you can go,"  
  
"How long will it take?"  
  
"At least a couple of hours I'm afraid." Arwen gaped at Pomfrey, before shaking her head and frowning,  
  
"No way! What about my lessons! I haven't even completed *one* lesson yet!" Sighing, Arwen looked around as if searching for something, then turned back to the nurse, "what if I heal myself enough, so the skin mends enough to go around as normal?" Snape fixed Arwen with a lazy expression, before sighing silently, and walking towards them,  
  
"Why not just heal yourself completely? Surely with the stunt with Longbottom, it should be easy, now that you've started healing the wounds?" Pomfrey and Arwen frowned at the Professor, while Neville turned red with the mention of his name,  
  
"As you noticed, the 'stunt' almost killed me, I was ignorant, and used my power over the limit. As I've just woken up from the consequences, I'd rather not risk another full heal, but I'll try do as much as possible..." and with that, she stepped aside and stood in the middle of the room.  
  
Closing her eyes, she tilted her head back, and she was covered in a misty haze, that had covered Neville before. Before their eyes, the wounds began to shrink, and many disappeared. After a while, the mist dissolved, and opening her eyes, a bluish tinge could be seen evaporating from her pupils, before turning back to bluish-grey.  
  
Madam Pomfrey reached out to her, as she looked like was going to faint again. Leading her back to the bed, Arwen scrunched up her eyes, as the room span again.  
  
"Are you ok, Arwen?" As amazed as she was, at Arwen's healing power, she was seriously worried that these spells might be hurting her,  
  
"I'm fine. It's just the energy loss..." When the dizzy feeling finally wore off, Arwen sat up slowly, and turned to Pomfrey, "Do you think I can go to lessons now?" Madam Pomfrey frowned in serious thought, as Arwen 'changed' her clothes back to her school uniform, now clean of the potion.  
  
"Fine you may go, but I want you to come straight back if you feel the slightest bit ill, you understand?" Arwen nodded, and Madam Pomfrey looked toward Neville, "Neville, if you could please show Arwen to her next lesson," nodding, Neville waited for Arwen, and led her out the Hospital Wing.  
  
*****  
  
T.B.C. Plz R&R 


End file.
